Cardinal says enough of euphemisms: Terry
Schiavo was killed

Lima, Jul. 26, 2005 (CNA) - The President of the Pontifical Council for Heath
Care, Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, recalled the Terry Schiavo case this week
and said "they killed her" by denying her food and hydration.

According to the cardinal, "Food and hydration are never considered
medicine." "To remove them means euthanasia, it means killing, and so this woman
was killed by hunger and starvation. Let’s stop with the euphemisms—they killed
her," he stated.

"Law consists of a rational ordering that seeks the common good and not the
common evil," Cardinal Lozano noted, "but many times there are laws that are
called laws but are nothing more than arbitrary norms. In fact, the President of
the United States was against this court decision because he had enough sense to
realize it was incorrect."

In today’s world, he stated, there is an abundance of euphemisms to disguise
euthanasia. "The dignity of death means that this person has the capacity to
reach the fullness of maturity so that upon crossing the threshold he or she
does so in full consciousness, blossoming forth completely in the Lord," the
cardinal added.

He also called for advances in palliative care in order to "resolve the
problems of pain and so that individuals can be more aware and more united to
Christ on the cross, and thus be more conscious of the beginning of the
resurrection."

Likewise, the cardinal pointed out that "a doctor who is not a believer is
always a frustrated doctor. The most advanced techniques, the most advanced
medicines, are always met at the exit by the ironic laughter of death; on the
other hand, the believer says no to death," he said.